Mind::Week 1 (Summer11)

Yes! You clicked on this link, so you’re obviously a bit curious. That’s good. We need to be curious as people, and we need to constantly enrich our mind.

This track will help you do that. By giving just a few hours each week–no more than 10-20 minutes a day, you’ll really grow with this track.

You have two assignments for this week.

Assignment #1

Get a copy of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink. This New York Times Bestseller remains one of the top 5 books I’ve read in the last five years. It will change the way you approach the way you work with others and even the ways you challenge and motivates yourself. Last time I checked, the hardcover was $16.04 on Amazon and the paperback was going for $9.60

Once you have a copy, read INTRODUCTION: The Puzzling Puzzles of Harry Harlow and Edward Deci. (It’s about 11 pages in the hardcover version of the book)

Assignment #2

While you wait for your copy of Drive to arrive, watch 3-4 TED Talks on the TED website. Take notes on a few of the main ideas and post them in the discussion section of my facebook page. Read comments from others who post. You can watch any 3-4 TED Talk you’d like, but here are 15 of my favorites to help get you started.

J.J. Abrams’ Mystery Box (18:05)
Tim Brown on creativity and play (27:54)
Tim Brown urges designers to think big (16:50)
Chip Conley: Measuring what makes life worthwhile (17:40)
Ric Elias: 3 things I learned while my plane crashed (5:03)
Bill Gates: How state budgets are breaking US schools (10:16)
Malcolm Gladwell on spaghetti sauce (17:33)
Seth Godin: This is broken (20:14)
Steve Jobs: How to live before you Die (15:04)
Jamie Oliver’s TED Prize wish: Teach every child about food (21:53)
Neil Pasricha: The 3 A’s of awesome (17:33)
Tony Robbins asks why we do what we do (21:48)
Stefan Sagmeister: 7 rules for making more happiness (9:34)
Derek Sivers: Weird, or just different? (2:42)
Adora Svitak: What adults can learn from kids (8:13)

Thanks for participating in Summer School 2011!